Game Day Notes: Sens vs. Sabres

Who's in? Who's out? We've got all the details on the Sens projected line-up for tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Up Front

One small change up front as Sens head coach Guy Boucher confirmed that he'll be reverting back to the traditional 12 forwards and 6 defencemen deployment tonight against the Sabres.
Nick Paul, who was recalled from Belleville this morning, is expected to make his season debut tonight after being a healthy scratch in his other NHL stints this year. Paul has recorded 6 points in 6 games in Belleville this season and has 36 NHL games under his belt over the past 3 years.
"He's been the best player down there since the beginning so he deserves to be here," said head coach Guy Boucher. "He was hurt the last time we called up somebody now he's fine so we called him back up."
Still no update on the future of Alex Formenton who is set to play his 9th NHL game of the season tonight. Formenton is fresh off his first career NHL goal on Tuesday night after deflecting Chris Wideman's point shot for the Sens lone tally of the night.

The Sens still have the option to return the young forward to the London Knights without using up a year of his entry level contract and that decision will need to be made ahead of his 10th game this weekend.
"We haven't had any discussions about that," Boucher said about Formenton. "I'm coaching the player that's here right now and I'm not pretending that I'm making player personnel decisions."
Here's a look at the Sens' projected forward lines tonight:
Dzingel - Duchene - Stone
Formenton - Tierney - Ryan
Paul - White - Boedker
McCormick - Pyatt - Paajarvi

On Defence

With the return of 12/6 and Christian Wolanin and Erik Burgdoerfer swapping places, the defence duos will only see a slight change tonight against Buffalo. The top 4 pairings of Thomas Chabot and Dylan DeMelo as well as Max Lajoie and Cody Ceci remain in tact as the Sens get ready to face an upstart Sabres team.
"Their first line is firing on all cylinders," said Boucher. "They're a team that's done a lot of good things since the beginning of the year and they've grown so they're tough to beat."

And here's how the defence pairings could look tonight:
Chabot - DeMelo
Lajoie - Ceci
Wideman - Jaros

In Goal

Craig Anderson (4-3-2) gets the start in goal tonight as the Sens look to bust out of their current 4-game losing skid.
"That was a difficult road trip for us," said Anderson. "Between the travel and the teams we were playing…we just didn't have our game so now it's a matter of getting back."

The Sens have also recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from Belleville after placing backup Mike Condon on waivers yesterday. Condon subsequentally cleared waivers this afternoon but no details have been shared on next steps as of yet.
"We'll see what the plan is," said Boucher. "Any player that can get a little breather from his environment and gets to reload can do him some good. That's not my decision, that's Pierre's and management."

Dress Accordingly

The Sens will be sporting their alternate jerseys 10 times this season and it starts tonight against the Sabres. It's a pretty easy schedule to remember so if it's Thursday and the Sens are at home, the big, silver O is in effect.
The NHL 100 Classic jersey debuted last December against Montreal outdoors when the Sens downed the Canadiens 3-0 in front of a packed house at Lansdowne.

Where to Watch

It's a 7:30 p.m. start at Canadian Tire Centre so
grab some tickets
and we'll see you at the rink.
Can't make it to the game? Grab some people and head over toOliver's Pubon campus at Carleton University where they'll be serving up $4.25 cans of Molson Canadian during tonight's game.